Fade to white: Hollywood can't shake its obsession with casting Caucasians as characters of colour

Leonardo DiCaprio can pull off a lot of characters, from American poet Jim Carroll to American FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. But an iconic 13th-century Muslim poet from present-day Afghanistan? Whiter than white Leo?

No wonder people are so worked up over director David Franzoni and producer Stephen Joel Brown's first choice to play esteemed Persian poet Rumi (real name: Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī) in their upcoming biopic.

The Twitter outcry after they announced their plan in The Guardian was immediate. "Don't "challenge Muslim stereotypes" by trying to change fact and history #RumiWasntWhite", tweeted one person.

Meanwhile another wrote: So they want a white man to play Rumi, a SUFI PERSIAN poet, but when they need a terrorist they find Muslim actors so easily#RumiWasntWhite".

Although there's no word on whether Leo has been officially offered the role, this is just the latest in a disappointing Hollywood casting trend. Scroll for more egregious examples of white actors playing characters of colour.